CANLUBANG, Philippines — Lady amateur Jayvie Agojo grabbed the spotlight from the men of the tour as she fired a wind-blown one-under 69 to snatch a one-stroke lead over fancied Juvic Pagunsan at the start of the P4.5 million The Country Club Invitational at the TCC layout here Thursday.

Pagunsan knocked down tough par putts in howling winds in the last three holes to salvage an even par 70 then watched Elmer Salvador hobble home with a string of bogeys and the rest flounder in exacting condition to put in motion his bid for a third championship in this blue ribbon event featuring a power-packed cast chasing the top P1.4 million purse.

Agojo, the reigning Hong Kong Amateur champion, surprised the elite field with birdies in the first two holes. She rammed in another on No. 5 for a sterling 32 but like everybody else, floundered when the going got tough at the back, bogeying two of the last three holes.

Angelo Que, the reigning back-to-back champion, made a 37 at the turn on a birdie against three bogeys stint but failed to rebound at the back with three bogeys in the last six holes for a 75.

Salvador, the ICTSI-PGT Order of Merit champion in 2009, looked headed for an explosive round when he birdied three of the last five holes at the front.

But he went on an attack mode at the back and paid dearly for it, fumbling with back-to-back bogeys from No. 11 and dropped two more strokes in the last three holes in a birdie-less backside stint for a 71.

That enabled Pagunsan, winner here in 2006 and 2008, to seize the early lead among the pros for the momentum needed on this daunting par-70 layout made longer after organizers turned the two par-5s into par-4s (Nos. 8 and 10).